Rapiscan technology deemed safe by federal officials

Joshua Dahl/CorrespondentAngelique Lynch, a Transportation Security Administration officer, looks at an image from the new Rapiscan body scanner at the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Gulfport, Miss., on Friday, June 18, 2010.

Kant said the scanners use low energy x-rays, and that people are exposed to the same amount of radiation in just two minutes of a typical flight.

The letter, written by officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Transportation Security Administration, was in response to a request from the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy.

"We are confident that full-body x-ray security products and practices do not pose a significant risk to the public health," the letter reads.